Hawkeye was taken out of Frank's care and put into Trapper's. I had been able to give him regular doses of medicine and he was already acting like his old self.

I had brought him lunch and was sitting with him in post-op.

"Pretty soon, you'll be able to eat in the mess tent with Radar, Henry, and Trapper again," I commented.

"If Henry ever shows up," he remarked. He was right. Henry still wasn't back from Tokyo. As if on cue, Henry burst in through the door.

"No one was willing to look for Hawkeye!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "They say they're not in the MIA business. He's probably dead now- or worse!" He looked apologetically at me. "Sorry, Belle."

Then, he did a double take. "Hawkeye? But- You- You're back?"

"He was brought the day you left," I explained, trying to hide my smile at the look of amazement on his face.

He blinked a few times. "You mean he's been here the entire time?"

Hawkeye and I both nodded.

"How come I wasn't contacted?"

I shrugged. "Radar probably didn't know where you were staying."

Then, Frank and Margaret came in. "Colonel?" Margaret sounded surprised. "You're back."

"Yep. Sorry , Frank. I'm in charge now."

"Yes, he understands that," Margaret said briskly. "Now that you're here, we need to file a report on Captains McIntyre and Winifred!"

Henry sighed. "I just got here. Can't this wait?"

"Oh, just wait until here what they did. Insubordination and failure to show military respect are just the beginning of the list!"

I had never stood up to Margaret before. That's why what I did next surprised everyone, even me. I stood up and and calmly went over to stand in front of Margaret. I heard Trapper and Radar's voices as they came in, but I didn't look at them. "Well, Major," I said determinedly. "Really it is us who can file a report on you two."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, enraged. But I didn't flinch from her anger. I had my own score to settle here.

"For one thing, think about how you two disregarded Hawkeye's wishes by denying him the simple thing of having Trapper operate on him instead of Frank. For another, when he got sick, all the blame was put on me, when Major Burns had sabotaged from the beginning! He replaced the disinfectant with distilled water and banned me from giving Hawkeye medicine. And then you stole it from the supply room so I couldn't even secretly give it to him! So before you start accusing Trapper and I of saving Hawkeye's life, maybe you should consider what you did."

While I was talking the room had gone stunned silent. Frank had slowly started edging toward the door and an expression of shock had slowly spread across her face. I felt like a hero. Not only had I saved Hawkeye's life, I had exposed Frank and Margaret's treachery.

Trapper and Radar started clapping. Margaret's look of shock had turned to one of confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Then her expression turned to anger and she rounded on Frank. "Is that true?" she shouted. "I don't care how much you don't like Pierce! Those were acts of a cruel savage!"

He shook his head. "No, Margaret, it's not! I have no idea what she's talking about!"

"You're lying, Frank! Don't think I don't see you edging towards the door! The innocent don't run!" Then her voice saddened and she turned to me. "I'm sorry. I had absolutely no idea of what was going on here. I'll get rid of the report about you and Captain McIntyre."

She left the room and Frank stood, open mouthed for a moment before glaring at me and the others, "You guys!" He quickly left, probably to go crawling to Margaret.

Henry chuckled. "Well, I don't know what's going on here, but I think it'll solve itself."

But I wasn't listening. I was looking at Hawkeye. Of all the reactions I got to standing up to Margaret, his was the best. He looked at me, a huge smile on his face and pride and love in his eyes.

"Good job, lovely."

* * *

Soon everything was back to normal. Frank and Margaret never filed a report and neither did Hawkeye, Trapper and I. Henry was back in charge and everything was as it should be. Except for being in Korea and war going on and everything, but that's okay.

It was nighttime and Hawkeye and I were out by ourselves. We were lying side by side on the ground, looking up at the stars.

"You know what, Hawkeye?" I said, breaking our silence.

"Yeah, lovely?"

"I've seen a lot of things lost and then found again."

"So have I."

"And I think you're my favorite."

I didn't look at him, but I knew he was smiling.

* * *

Many thanks to all my readers for sticking with the story. Special thanks to beahawk, Hawk's-GaL4077, Lady Nightwisp, maximom4077, Texas Bluebonnet, cowboykelly17, GREENGYPSY, AmericanPoet, and General Kinchmeyer for all the wonderful reviews so far! And to any one who reviews after I post this, thanks to you too!

Super special thanks go to Lady Nightwisp for giving my the idea of thanking the reviewers by name. Hope you don't mind, but I'm going to use it in future stories too ;)

There WILL be a sequel, so keep your eyes open for P.O.W.